Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
4A Brain & Body
Neuroscience - Bellanca
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Neuroscience | branch of psychology about how biology & behavior connect. |
| Nervous system | The body's speedy, electrochemical communication system (consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems) |
| Neuron | A nerve cell; the basic building block of NS |
| Dendrites | receive messages from other neurons |
| Soma | aka cell body; life support center |
| Axon | carries messages away from cell body to terminals |
| Glial cells | Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons. |
| Myelin | fatty tissue that covers axon of some neurons to help speed up neural impulses. signals can jump from gap to gap which is faster than going down the whole axon. |
| Nerves | Neural "cables" containing many axons |
| Resting potential | a chill neuron; it is able to send a message but is waiting for another neuron to send it a message |
| Action potential | neural impulse; sending a message |
| All-or-none response | Once threshold (-55mV) is reached, the neuron MUST fire; no -55 mV = no fire |
| Axon terminals (buttons) | form junctions with other cells |
| Synapse (synaptic gap) | Terminals of one neuron almost touch the dendrites of another, but don't actually touch |
| Neurotransmitter | Chemical messengers that traverse synaptic gaps between neurons; fit like a lock and key with receptor sites |
| Receptor sites | on the dendrites of the receiving neuron |
| Excitatory effects | tell the neuron to FIRE! |
| Inhibitory effects | tell the neuron to STOP |
| Agonists | Drugs or other substances that MIMIC neurotransmitters, so it's like the original NT is in the receptor site; the response will be whatever the NT would normally do. |
| Antagonists | Drugs or other substances that BLOCK neurotransmitters, so the actual NT cannot fit in that receptor site; the response will be NOT what the NT would normally do. |
| Reuptake | re-absorption of NTs back into terminals |
| Central nervous system (CNS) | The brain and spinal cord. |
| Spinal cord | long, tubular bundle of nerve fibers that extends from the brain through the spinal column |
| Afferent (sensory) neurons | Feeling, sensory neurons; go from your senses to spinal cord, to brain, telling your brain what's going on in the world |
| Efferent (motor) neurons | Effect, motor neurons; go from your brain, to spinal cord, to muscles, telling them to move |
| Interneuron | only found in brain and spinal cord, the middle man between afferent and efferent |
| Reflex | involves only the spinal cord; says MOVE! before your brain registers trouble; A simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response |
| Neuroplasticity | brain’s ability to adapt to change across the lifespan and to rewire itself after damage |
| Peripheral nervous system (PNS) | The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body. |
| Somatic nervous system | Soma = body; division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles |
| Autonomic nervous system (ANS) | division of peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs |
| Sympathetic nervous system | division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations. |
| Parasympathetic nervous system | division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy. |
| Lesion | brain tissue destruction |
| Electroencephalograph (EEG) | recording of the electrical activity of brain waves |
| Computed tomography (CT) | aka CAT scan; x-ray that shows structure of brain |
| Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) | magnetic fields and radio waves to produce images that show structure of brain |
| Positron emission tomography (PET) | visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given tasy |
| Gazzaniga & Sperry | studied split brain patients; showed that left/right hemispheres have different functions |
| Medulla | controls breathing & heartbeat |
| Pons | helps in coordinating movement as it is the connect between the cerebellum and the cortex |
| Reticular Formation | controls arousal (alertness) and attention |
| Cerebellum | coordinates voluntary movement and balance |
| Limbic System | emotional control center (happiness, sadness, love, anger) contains the hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus |
| Thalamus | relays messages between lower brain (like brainstem) and cerebral cortex; sensory switchboard |
| Hypothalamus | directs maintenance activities (like eating, drinking, body temperature, sleep); helps control endocrine system via pituitary gland |
| Hippocampus | helps process new memories (like learning new psychology!) |
| Amygdala | emotions like fear & anger |
| Cerebral Cortex | ultimate control & info processing center (is split into the different lobes) |
| Cerebral hemispheres | 2 hemispheres - left & right |
| Corpus callosum | Connects the hemispheres |
| Occipital Lobes | Contains the visual cortex; vision |
| Parietal Lobes | Contains the somatosensory cortex; deals with bodily sensations & positioning |
| Somatosensory cortex | body sensations |
| Temporal lobes | contains auditory cortex & Wernicke's area; mostly deals with hearing |
| frontal lobes | contains motor cortex & prefrontal cortex (personality, planning, decision making) and Broca's area; number sense, creativity, planning, logic |
| motor cortex | deals with moving body parts |
| association areas | the parts of the cerebral cortex that are unassigned to a particular task; humans have very large association areas |
| Broca's aphasia | Broken speech; person knows answer, but can't physically move their mouth to say it |
| Wernicke's aphasia | Wacky speech; person can't comprehend what is being said, so they answer in nonsense words and phrases |
| Endocrine System | chemical system; moves more slowly than electrical systems; gets hormones to the body; controlled by pituitary gland |
| Hormones | chemical messengers |
| Pituitary gland | controls endocrine system; tells other glands when to produce hormones |
| Pineal gland | highly active in early childhood and functions to control development of sexual traits |
| Thyroid gland | located in the neck and secretes the hormones that control metabolism and growth. |
| Pancreas | located across the back of the abdomen, behind the stomach. The pancreas plays a role in digestion, as well as hormone production. |
| Gonads | The sex organs in a male or female animal which make the cells needed to produce babies. |
| Ovaries | The pair of organs in a woman's body which produce eggs. Also the part of any female animal or plant that produces eggs or seeds |
| Testes | A pair of male reproductive glands that produce sperm, contained in the scrotum |
| Adrenal glands | The pair of adrenal glands are located on top of both kidneys. Adrenal glands work hand-in-hand with the hypothalamus and pituitary gland; produce adrenaline |
| Chromosomes | The threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes. A human cell has twenty-three pairs of chromosomes, one member of each pair coming from each parent. |
| DNA | (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes. |
| Genes | the biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; they are segments of the DNA molecules capable of synthesizing a protein. |
Created by:
deleted user
Popular Psychology sets